Wade Maloney put the Blue Boars in front for the first time in the game with seven minutes to go and they held for a 22-18 win.

Earlier Inverell pipped Tamworth 34-31 in second grade, while Moree trounced Narrabri 57-29 in the U19s and Tamworth were victorious 22-14 over Narrabri in the U17s.

NORTHERN INLAND PREMIER LEAGUE

Tamworth FC went up by a goal twice at Scully Park on Saturday and twice the Mushies clawed their way back into the match with equalising goals to see the sides draw 2-2 their Northern Inland Premier League first grade match.

In other first grade matches, East Armidale got up easily, 11-2, over South Armidale, Demon Knights also won by nine goals when they beat Joeys 9-0 and it was much closer in the final match as Norths United beat North Companions 1-0.

In reserve grade, South Armidale won 6-0 against East Armidale, Demon Knights beat Joeys 5-0, Norths United got up 3-0 over Companions and OVA beat Tamworth FC 9-0.

STATE LEAGUE DIVISION 1

The Tamworth Thunderbolts have made it through to the State League Division 1 final following a commanding 92-65 victory over Canberra in Maitland today.

The only time the Thunderbolts trailed in the match was during the first minute after Canberra scored the first points but from then on it was all Tamworth.

The Bolts will play the grand final tomorrow.

GROUP 4 SECOND DIVISION

Kootingal-Moonbi mirrored North Tamworth’s performance against Gunnedah a week ago when they produced a sublime opening first half to humble four-placed Manilla 52-10 at Kootingal on Saturday and secure the minor premiership.

In doing so, the Roosters – competition leaders since round four in a two-loss season – showed their premiership rivals that they have another gear, like the Bears did.

As with the Norths-Gunnedah clash, the match was effectively over at half-time with the Roosters leading 36-0 following a four-try haul to centre Logan Howard.